United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) EVP Richard Bradshaw Sells 1,424 Shares

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $49,968.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 83,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,470.52. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of UCB stock opened at $35.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.81. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.65 and a 52 week high of $37.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.54.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). United Community Banks had a net margin of 24.43% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on UCB shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Hovde Group decreased their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UCB. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 196.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. First Horizon Corp raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Community Banks Company Profile

United Community Banks, Inc (NYSE: UCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. It operates primarily through its subsidiary, United Community Bank, providing a broad range of banking and financial services to individual, business and governmental customers. The company’s core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, treasury and cash management services, and wealth management.

In addition to traditional banking products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, United Community Bank specializes in commercial real estate financing, small business administration (SBA) loans, equipment financing and agricultural lending.